Garment



Sept. 29, 1931. P. K. KARBERG 1,825,271

' GARMENT Filed March 3l, 1930 Patented Sept. 29, 1931 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE PETER K. KARBERG, OF DUBU'QUE, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO H. B.GLOVER COMPANY, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA, A CORPORATION 0F IOWA GARMENTApplication filed March 31, 1930. Serial No. 440,284.

jamas and other garments of the kind 1nen tioned have been made withelastics in the waistband to avoid the binding and discomfort, but it isobvious that such garments naturally rely upon a definite amount oftension in the elastic. It has been a matter of. common experience thatthe elastic in the course. of time, especially after severallaunderings, becomes elongated and loses a certain amount of itsoriginal tension, and the result is that the garment sags at the waistand must either be repeatedly hunched up, or a pleat sewed or pinned in.It 1s, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide awaistband made up .partly of elastic to afford the desired amount ofgive, but having adjusting strings in connection therewith to adjust thewaist measurement as the elastic becomes elongated, and thus adjust theelastics whereby to maintain a predetermined desired tension in theelastic at all times throughout the life of the garment.

Another, object consists inthe direct attachment of the adjustingstrings to the elastic inside the waistband at the back, so that thetightening of these strings is not attended with the slightestdiscomfort to the wearer, the strings being kept covered, and

portion of the waistband shown on a larger scale, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, a horizontal section on the line and avertical section on the line 4.-1 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Before proceeding with the detailed description of my invention, itshould be understood that, while I have illustrated the invention asapplied to pajamas, it is not limited to such use, but may be ap lied tovarious other garments and to unc erwear generally, such as union suits,drawers, etc.

In Figure l, the pajama trousers 5 have the legs and the rest of theAbody portion made of any suitable non-elastic fabric. The front G mayor may not be provided with buttons, although I have shown theA sameclosed, as indicated by the seam 7 of which the seam 8 running up theback 9 `than shown, they being herein illustrated as terminating shortof the middle of the front of the waistband where the ends are sewed, asat 13 and 1-1, to a non-elastic front piece that is sewed onto the bodyfabric at the waist line. vThe elastics reach around the sides andacross a portion of the back of the waistband, as indicated, andareseWed to the waist portion o'f 'the body fabric along the upper andlower edges of the elastics, as indicated at 15 and 16. The elastics arestretched to their full extent during this sewing, so that when they goback to their normal length the body fabric is gathered in as many smalluniform pleats as there are stitches. The fact that the elastics are atopposite sides` instead of in the front or back port-ion of thewaistband, is of advantage from the standpoint that the waistband isfree to give in respiration without pulling back and forth on the bodyat the sides. This crinkled effect at opposite sides of the waistband,combined with the slight tension of the elastics, prevents slippage, andthe garment is found to stay in place properly at all times, providedthere is the pro er tension in the elastics, which, in accor ance withmy invention as will now be described, can always be provided for. Inpassing, 1t should also be noted that with this construction the bodyfabric entirely covers the inside of the elastics 10 and 11, So thatthere is no rubber coming in contact with the body, that having been aserious objection to many forms of elastic waistband constructions whichmay just as well be avoided, as I have illustrated. Y

At the back, the waistband 12'l1as a piece 17, preferably of the samenon-elastic fabric previously mentioned, sewed to the waist portion ofthe garment along its upper and lower edges, as indicated at 18 and 19.A pair of adjusting strings 20 entered through slits 21, similar tobutton holes, provided in the piece 17 at the middle thereof and,consequently, disposed at the middle of the back of the waistband, areextended in opposite directions, and one is joined at its lend directlyto the elastic 10, and the other directly to the elastic 11 bystitching, indicated at 22, joining the ends of the piece 17 to the endsof the elastics. The piece 17, which, of course, need not be a separatepiece, but might simply be an outer ply formed in one piece with therest of the waist portion, in addition to forming the tunnel for theadjusting strips, also serves the im ortant function of covering up withthe en s thereof, the raw ends of the elastics as clearly indicated inFig. 3, thus giving a smooth back for the garment and making for theneatest appearance. The strings 2() are intertwined, as mdicated inFigure 1, and are arranged to be pulled to secure the desired tensioninthe elastics and then-tied in a bow knot or otherwise so that they maybe subsequently untied easily when a further adjustment in Vwaistmeasurement and tension of the elastic is to be made, because ofelongation and loss in tension of the elastic.

Garments provided with this waistband construction do not have to bemade in nearly so many sizes because of the elastics taking care ofoversizes, and the adjusting strings taking care of undersizes. In otherwords, a garment of a given size, sold to one purchaser who has a largerwaist measurement,` will fit that person possiblyv without anyadjustment on the adjusting strings,

at least when the garment is new, whereas, in the case of a purchaserhaving a smaller waist measurement, a garment of the same size can bemade to fit perfectly by proper adjustment of the adjusting strings.Thus, for example, in the case of pajamas, only four sizes-A, B, C andD, are ordinarily made to take care of the full range of measurements,and the odd sizes are taken care of in the manner indicated. This matterof taking care of size adjustments of the waistband is mentioned merelyas a distinctly advantageous feature of the invention. The advantage ofthe waistband construction of this invention is partly noteworthy fromthe standpoint that it permits the wearer to adjust the tension of theelastic to suit his personal preference when the garment is new, andpermits him to make still further adjustments from time to time toretension the elastic after the same has become elongated, so that thegarment fits comfortably throughout the life thereof including the timewhen there is no more elasticity left in the elastics. In other words,the garment is useful until worn out, and not only so long as there islife in the elastics. An adjustment with the adjusting strings willmerely result in the gathering of the excess material at the back of thewaist similarly as in the case of the material gathered under theelastics, that is, in small pleats, so that there is no excessivebunching of material in one place. The fact, too, that this gatheringcomes at the hollow of the back, avoids any likelihood of discomfort.

There is also an advantage in having the elastics at both sides in thatthey come just over the hips so as to keep the garment in place, and thefullness of material, owing to the pleats below the elastics, giveplenty of hip room.

l. claim:

1. In a garment having leg portions, an adjustable waist constructionfor said garment, comprising in combination with in` elastic waistmaterial, elastic web members disposed at opposite sides of the waistspanning gathers of waist material, the said elastics having the gathersstitched thereto so as to fold and unfold uniformly in the contractionand stretching of the elastics, and a pair of adjusting strings reachingfrom the ends of the elastics toward each other and arranged to beintertwined with one another at their free ends and drawn up so as to,first of all, take up excess waist material and, beyond that, place theelastics under a predetermined desired tension, said strings beingarranged to be tied together in adjusted position whereby to keep thegarment with the exact waist measurement and elastic tension to whichthe same has been adjusted, the said elastic web members norlnallyhaving the ends thereof spaced far enough apart to permit the desiredrange of waist measurement adjustment and adjustment of the elastics upto the point where there is substantially no further elasticity therein.

2. In a garment having leg portions, an adjustable waist constructionfor said garment comprising inelastic lfront and back: portions havinggathers of waist material therebetween at opposite sides of the waist,elastic web members disposed at opposite sides of the waist spanning thegathers, the said elastics having the gathers stitched thereto so as tofold and unfold uniformly in the contraction and stretching of theelastics, a second ply of inelastic material for one of said inelasticwaist portions extending from the end of one elastic to the end of theother and serving to cover the raw ends thereof, said second ply forminga tunnel between .the ends of the elastics, and a pair of adjustingstrings provided in said tunnel attached at their outer ends to the endsof the elastics, the attachment being concealed by the second ply, saidstrings having their inner ends extended through one of the plies at anintermediate point of the tunnel and arranged to be fastened together,said strings being arranged to be adjusted to Yeffect waist measurementadjustmentl and elastic tension adjustment.

3. In a garment having leg portions, an adjustable waist constructionfor said garment comprising in combination with inelastic waist.material, elastic web members disposed at opposite sides of the waistsuperimposed upon the outside of gathers of waist material, there beinglongitudinal stitches smoothly connecting the elastics and the waistmaterial when the former are stretched, the waist material being therebygathered in slnall uniform pleats when the clastics are in their normalcontracted condition, whereby said waist material is caused to fold andunfold uniformly with contract-ion and stretching of the elastics, theends of the elastics being disposed normally in spaced relation in thewearing ofthe garment, whereby to permit stretching of the elasties forwaist tensioning by drawing said ends toward each other, and a pair ofadjusting strings attached at their outer ends to the ends of theelastics and arranged to have free inner ends thereof fastened together,said strings being arranged to be adjusted whe'reby to secure thedesired waist measurement adjustment and elastic tension adjustment.

4. In a. garment having leg portions, an adjustable waist constructionfor said garment comprising in combination with inelastic waistmaterial, elastic webbing spanning gathers of waist material, the saidwebbing having the gathers fastened thereto so as to fold and unfolduniformly in the contraction and stretching of the webbing, the endsofthe webbing being disposed normally in spaced relation in the wearing ofthe garment, whereby to permit stretching of said webbing for waisttensioning by drawing said ends toward each other, and a pair ofadjusting strings suitably secured at their one end to the waist andextending away from the ends of the webbing toward each other andarranged when pulled to place the webbing under tension, said stringsbeing arranged to be adjusted at'their free ends and fastened togetherwhereby to secure the desired waist measurement adjustment and elastictension adjustment.

5. In a garment having leg-portions, an adjustable Waist constructionfor said garment comprising in combination with inelastic waistmaterial, elastic webbing spanning gathers of waist material, thewebbing having the gathers fastened thereto so as to fold and unfolduniformly in the contraction and stretching of the webbing, the ends ofthe webbing being disposed normally in spaced relation in the wearing ofthe garment, whereby to permit stretching of said webbing for waisttensioning by drawing said ends toward each other, a second ply ofinelastic material for the waist extending from the ends of the webbingand fastened thereto and serving to cover the raw endsthereof, saidsecond ply forming a tunneled waist portion between the ends of thewebbing, and a pair of adjusting strings suitably attached to the waistin'the tunneled portion and extending away from the ends of the webbingwith the free ends extended through one of the plies in the tunneledportion to permit fastening of said ends together, said strings beingarranged to be adjusted to effect waist measurement adjust-ment andelastic tension adjustment.

6. In a garment having leg portions, an adjustable waist constructionfor said garment comprising in combination with inelastic waistmaterial, elastic webbing superimposed upon the outside of gathers ofwaist material and fastened thereto so that the waist material is causedto fold and unfold uniformly with contraction and stretching of thewebbing, the ends of the webbing being disposed normally in spacedrelation in the wearing of the garment, whereby to permit stretching ofsaid webbing for waist tensioning by drawing said ends toward eachother, and a pair of adjusting'strings attached to the ends of thewebbing and extending therefrom toward each other to have the free endsthereof fastened together, said strings being arranged to be adjustedwhereby to secure the desired waist measurement adjustment and elastictension adjustment.

In witness of the foregoing I aiix my signature.

PETER K. KARBERG.

